Improvement in car-brakes



1. TEMPLE.

Car-Brakes.

Patented August 5, 1873.

I H llllllll]! witnesses: $01k. 10

AM. P/IOW-UTHIIGRAPHIC ca Mmasaomas pnacfss) JAMES TEMPLE, OFMOORESBURG, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO HIMSELF ANDDANL. J. ROTE, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN CAR-BRAKES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 141,608, dated August5, 1873; application filed May 9, 1873.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES TEMPLE, of Moorcsburg, in the county ofMontour and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Oar-Brakes and I do hereby declare the following to be afull, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had tothe accompanying drawin g forming part of this specification.

This invention relates to a novel and effective brake for railroad cars,designed toopcrate to a more advantageous degree than brakes of thedescription upon which the improvements are based. This inventionconsists in the employment of a longitudinal bar carrying at or near itsends arc-shaped brakeshoes, which are caused to act or bear upon asurface of the wheels, which-is a true segment of a circle, or onenearly so, bisected in an imaginary sense by a line drawn from the hubvertically to the highest point of the wheel, and horizontally to thecenter of the same 5 the object of this arrangement being to enable thebrake-shoes of the rear wheels to be tightened by the downward orforward movement of the front shoes, effected by the frictional contactwith the wheels before their complete revolution is arrested, the bar orbars carrying the brake-shoes being so hung or fitted as to enable thesame to move longitudinally to a sufficient extent for enabling theshoes to act in the manner stated. The invention further consists infitting the longitudinally-slidin g bar carrying the brake-shoes in aguide hanger or bracket, provided with two or more slots, located atdifferent elevations, for enabling the shoe-bar to be adjustedvertically to counteract the effects of wear upon the brake-shoes andwheels.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view,and Fig. 2 is a plan view, of a truck provided with my brake.

The truck frame and wheels designated by letters A B are of the ordinaryconstruction. Immediately over each pair of Wheels there is arranged alongitudinal bar, 0, which may be of thin bar or plate metal, so as toem able it to be bent into shape to form the arccurves 0 0, under whichare attached the brake-shoes D D, which are covered with asuitablefrictionalsubstance. Therearstraight end 0 of the bar 0 ispassed through a slotted bracket or hanger, E, attached to thetruck-frame, and provided with two or more slots arranged one above eachother, as shown, in order to enable the bar 0 to be adjusted verticallyas the brake shoes or wheels wear away, thus furnishing means for alwaysmaintaining the shoes in proper contact with the wheels. The forward end0 of the bar 0 is jointed or connected to the arms f f of a horizontalrock-shaft, F, which is journaled in the sides of the truck-frame. Therock-shaft possesses another pendent arm, f which is connected, by meansof a rod or link, f, to a vertical hand-shaft, G, that is stepped andvibrated in the projecting-plates 9 applied to the front of the truck.The hand-shaft is provided at its upper end with a ratchetwheel, 9 andlever-arms or hand-wheel a detent or pawl, 9 being combined or arrangedin proper relation to the ratchet for locking the hand-shaft. A weightor spring, H, is attached to another arm, f' rock-shaft, for the purposehereinafter stated, and to the outer end of the shaft there is alsoattached a hand-lever, g serving as an auxiliary device for operatingthe same.

The operation is as follows, viz: When the cars are running the weightor spring applied to the rock-shaft throws the same around so as to holdup the brake-shoe bar over and out of contact with the periphery of thewheels. When it is desired to apply the brakes force is exerted to turnthe handshaft, which, through the intervention of the rock-shaft andconnecting devices, serves to bring the brake-shoes down upon thewheels. The front shoes, which receive the direct force applied to themanual operative devices, are moved downward or forward to a suitableextent by the sudden frictional contact with the perimeters of thewheels, and will thus obviously draw the shoe-bar longi tudinally fortightening the rear brake-shoes. The longitudinal movement of theshoe-bar is rendered possible by curving the same in the particularmanner shown, so as to cause the brakeshoes to act upon a segmental surof the.

face of the wheels, which tends to move the front brake-shoes downwardand the rear shoes upward for clamping together, as it were, the frontand rear wheels.

It will be apparent that a brake-shoe of a semicircular shape actingdirectly upon the upper surface of the wheels, as shown in a previousapplication filed by myself June 6, 1860, will not accomplish the resultattained by the present invention.

Having thus described. my invention, what I claim as new, and desiretosecure by Letters Patent, is-- 1. A longitudinally-sliding bararranged, in relation to the wheels, as shown, and carrying arc-shapedbrake or friction shoes applied to correspondingly-shaped portions ofthe bar, the bar being fitted to slide in hanger E at one end, andconnected to the arm f of crankshaft F at the other, the various partsbeing combined and arranged to operate in the manner set forth. 7

2. The sliding shoe-bar fitted in a slotted guide-hanger, to enable thesame to be vertically adjusted, to counteract the efieots of wear uponthe shoes and wheels, as herein set forth.

JAMES TE MPLE.

Witnesses:

DANIEL J. Born, J OHN HENDRICKS.

